‘Embarrassing’ sweep a wake-up call for South Carolina softball in SEC play
Cayla Drotar’s half-slide to first base nearly proved costly. An awkward step on the bag led to an awkward fall. South Carolina’s top two-way player was flat on the dirt for a few moments, bringing both coach and trainer out from the dugout.
It was all a brief scare before Drotar shot up, dusted herself off and returned to pitch the very next inning.
Bouncing back will be a theme for the 11th-ranked Gamecocks when they travel to face Arkansas next weekend in Fayetteville. A 5-1 loss to Kentucky on Sunday meant Carolina (18-5, 0-3 SEC) was swept in a home SEC series for the first time in two seasons.
“Being swept at home,” USC coach Beverly Smith of her post-game message to her team, “it’s embarrassing and it leaves a nasty taste in your mouth. But it doesn’t get any easier for us moving forward. We’re going to learn from this and get better and keep it rolling.”
The No. 18 Wildcats (15-7) ended USC’s 15-game winning streak Friday before outscoring the Gamecocks, 16-3, the rest of the weekend at Beckham Field.
Drotar’s injury scare came in the fifth after she hustled down the first base line to break up a double play. The throw from Kentucky shortstop Katie Reed, however, beat Drotar to the bag and the Gamecocks went another inning without capitalizing on a scoring opportunity.
“I didn’t hit the ball solid,” Drotar said, “so I was trying to give everything that I could to try to get on base. I didn’t have my best batting this weekend, so I’m going to have to work at that.
“But, yeah, I was trying to do everything I could.”
South Carolina, which entered the weekend averaging 7.7 runs a game, left nine runners on base Sunday. USC’s team batting average dipped 21 points this weekend to .338.
“I was disappointed a little bit with our our mentality and our presence on the field,” Smith said. “I say it all the time, when you enter league play, the team that plays best on gameday is gonna win the game.
“And, today, we had a lot of scoring opportunities and we weren’t able to get that clutch hit.”
The Gamecocks got the lead runner on each of the first five innings — including a Lauren Stewart home run in the second — but failed to do further damage against UK starter Meghan Schorman.
Drotar, a one-time SEC Player of the Week this season, allowed five runs (four earned) on seven hits in seven innings. Stewart was the only Gamecock to have more than one hit.
“I don’t think we were sharp,” Smith said, “and I think that the whole weekend. And it showed. We’ll certainly work to improve that.”
Saturday’s 11-2 loss did include pitcher Kelsey Oh’s return from an ankle injury. Oh made the All-SEC Freshman team last year.
The 2018 Gamecocks, NCAA Super Regional participants, went 25-2 at home. The ‘19 bunch is 8-3 at Beckham.
“I love this team,” Smith said. “This team works. They’re in here getting their swings, they get their work in. So I just need them to carry the confidence into gameday because we do have a very good team, a very good pitching staff and I think it’s just (about) being locked in on gameday.”
Added Drotar: “I think hitting adversity was good for us because it opens your eyes a little bit and it makes you realize you can’t take your foot off the gas pedal any time, especially in conference play.”
The week ahead
▪ Wednesday: Home doubleheader vs. Bryant (noon, 2:30 p.m.), streaming on SEC Network Plus through WatchESPN app
▪ Friday-Saturday-Sunday: Series at Arkansas (7 p.m., 2 p.m., 2 p.m.), no stream or TV coverage
This story was originally published March 10, 2019 at 4:27 PM.
